


Best of Husbands and Best of Men

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [14]
Category: 18th & 19th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anniversary, Celebrations, F/M, Family, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, Vows, Weddings, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 00:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6031240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander and Eliza have been together for five years now, perhaps it's a good time for them to take the next step?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best of Husbands and Best of Men

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Belated Valentine's Day! Enjoy :)

February 14, 1990

Alex took Valentine's Day very seriously. He liked making sure that the people around him knew that they were loved. Every one of his friends were always gifted with a small chocolate and a long note every year. It wasn't until he and Eliza got together that she truly realized just how much the holiday meant to him. From that first year she always received a letter, at least three pages front and back, filled to the brim with poetic prose and decelerations of love. When he did it again the second year she was even more surprised that it wasn't the same as the year before. How he managed to always have something to say was beyond her, but that was just one of the many reasons she loved him so much. She treasured those letters with the rest of the others he had sent her during their time together (of which she'd amassed plenty).

And now it was their first Valentine's Day in their new apartment, and Alex was going to be busy. She didn't resent him for it, he was working as a intern at a law firm that was aligned with his ideals. He was happier than she had ever seen him, how could she possibly be angry. She had accepted the fact that it wasn't going to be like what she had gotten used to. Still he hadn't forgotten judging by the note he had left on his pillow that she had read upon waking up. It had been remarkably concise, particularly for someone who wrote like Alex, but the sentiment had still been there and had kept her smiling throughout the day.

While she had the day to herself she decided to get some things done, after all they were still getting settled in a new place in the city and until you move you never really know just what you are going to need. So setting out with list in hand Eliza decided she was going to be productive.

When she finally returned to their apartment in the late afternoon, rather tired from being on her feet all day and laden down with shopping bags, she expected that her evening plans would consist of taking a hot shower and ordering a pizza. But upon opening the door she found a scene she most definitely wasn't expecting. The lights were on, someone was home... But she had been certain he was going to be working late?

"Alex?" Eliza called out as she set down some of her bags.

"Alexander?" Eliza noticed there was what looked suspiciously like a trail of rose petals. She let out a laugh, Alex was around somewhere because only her boyfriend could take something from a cheesy rom-com and make her heart flutter.

Quickly dropping off the perishable items from her her supermarket run in the kitchen, Eliza returned to the foyer and began following the path. She stooped over and picked up one of the petals--they were definitely rose petals--and rubbed it's softness between her fingers as she followed the trail back to their bedroom. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't waiting there for her, but an envelope was on her side of their bed, sitting there surrounded by more petals. A closer look revealed one of the usual chocolates, heart shaped and wrapped in bright red foil.

Eliza carefully opened the envelope, "My Dearest Betsey," she muttered as she began to read it's contents. This was more like the notes she'd received in the past but there was a twist. There were instructions for her to meet him at a restaurant as well as to look in her closet. Laying the letter down down she slide open the door to see a dress that had not been there previously and had Hercules Mulligan's handiwork practically written all over it.

This was impressive, she had to admit as she took out the dress admiring the the blue fabric and cut. Clearly Alex expected her to wear it this evening. She ran a hand along the skirt of the dress with a small smile. Time to get ready, she would have to leave soon if she wanted to make it to the restaurant on time.

\----------

 

Alex tried his hardest to not fidget, his fingers interlaced and resting on the table in front of him.

He kept wondering what Eliza would think of all of this, he'd been planning this for weeks. He knew she wasn't expecting anything so this was to be a very nice surprise. There was no way he was going to let this Valentine's Day pass unnoticed. He then thought about the weight in his pocket that almost felt like it weighed a ton. This evening was going to be special, he had made sure of that.

He glanced briefly at his watch. Only a few more minutes before the time he had set. He glued his eyes on the entrance to the dining room, which he could just see from the corner table he had reserved. When he finally saw Eliza step in following the maitre d, his breath caught in his chest and his heart began to pound. Even after all this time, he couldn't believe that Eliza had even been willing to go out with him in the first place, he could only hope that she shared the same sentiments that he did.

As she walked toward him they made eye contact and Eliza smiled brightly at him.

Alex scrambled to his feet so that he could pull the chair out.

"Well this is a surprise," Eliza sat down, looking up at Alex where he stood behind the chair.

"Only the best for my darling Betsey," Alex grinned, continuing to hold her gaze as he circled around to her side, taking one of Eliza's hands and bringing it to his lips.

Eliza couldn't help the slightest hint of a blush that came to her cheeks as he did this. She gently squeezed Alex's hand before sat down across from her.

"This better than staying home watching _'When Harry Met Sally'_ ," Eliza confessed.

"Is that really what you were going to do?" Alex chuckled.

"No judgments, Mr. Hamilton," Eliza teased, pointing her finger at him in a chiding manner.

"Judgments," Alex said, making a show of being affronted, "me? You wound me, Miss Schuyler."

Eliza started to giggle, "I'm sure you can handle it," she replied, "I hardly made a dent in your pride."

"I can't tell weather that comment about the size of my pride is a compliment or an insult," Alex said.

"I leave it to your discretion," Eliza shot back, reaching her hand across the small table. Alex took it and pressed another kiss to her knuckles.

"So you like the dress?" Alex asked.

"I do," Eliza nodded, "what did you do for Herc that he owed you such a favor?"

"It may have something to do with the fashion show I helped him with," Alex said, flushing slightly.

"The one with the mini skirt?" giggled Eliza.

Alex coughed lightly, "That's the one."

"You looked very nice in that mini skirt," Eliza grinned.

"I don't even want to think about how long it took for me to shave my legs for that. You have no idea," Alex grumbled.

 

Eliza raised an eyebrow pointedly.

"Okay, maybe you do," conceded Alex, "Can we not talk about this anymore? By which I mean, ever again."

Eliza pouted, "Very well," she sighed.

"Thank you," Alex said, his face was now bright red.

One of the waiters came over to the table, "Hello, my name is Andrew and I will be your server for this evening, can I start you off with anything to drink?"

Once their orders had been placed, Alex began his daily routine of telling Eliza everything that had occurred to him over the course of the day. He seemed slightly less enthused than usual and slightly nervous for some reason.

She couldn't help but think that maybe this was it? A few weeks prior Hercules had let it slip that Alex was making plans to propose... She began to get butterflies at the very thought. Of course she would say yes, she was certain of that. Frankly, Eliza couldn't think of anyone else she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.

"I'm boring you," Alex said suddenly, noticing a faraway look in Eliza's eyes.

Eliza shook herself out of the daydream she had sunken into and simply smiled warmly at him.

"Of course not," she assured him, "I love your passion."

Alex's worried look turned into a smirk and Eliza rolled her eyes fondly, anticipating the likely lewd comment her boyfriend was going to make using the word passion. He had obviously been spending too much time around Lafayette.

"The passion for life, or something else dear Betsey?" Alex asked suggestively.

Yes, definitely spending too much time with Lafayette, Eliza decided as she playfully swatted at the back of his hand when the waiter returned with two wine glasses and the bottle they had ordered.

"At this moment, life, but if you behave that answer may change later," Eliza shot back once the waiter had left. Two could play at that game.

Alex's eyebrows raised, "I think you meant to say if I misbehave."

"If you misbehave, you'll only be allowed to watch."

"Is that a threat or a promise," smirked Alex.

Eliza tried to keep her blushing to a minimum, "I'd rather keep you on your toes," she replied, "wonder until you've laid out every possibility." This was something she knew he was already doing when they locked eyes.

 

"How are you so perfect?" Alex asked wonderingly, his eyes shining and his grin wide.

 

"I try," Eliza responded, taking a dainty sip of her wine.

"You don't even have to try." The flush in Eliza's cheeks rose again.

"You are perfection on earth," Alex added.

"Oh stop it," Eliza blushed even more.

"You know I wouldn't say it unless it was true," Alex smiled.

"You just like to see me blush," Eliza accused fondly.

"Of course," agreed Alex, "You do it so prettily."

Eliza put a hand to her cheek and could feel the heat radiating off it, "Angelica always warned me about you."

"Well I'm glad you didn't listen," Alex chuckled.

"Angelica has terrible taste in men most of the time," Eliza informed him, "If she had approved of you right away, that would have been cause for worry."

Alex laughed, "You Schuyler sisters are truly something else."

"Thank you," Eliza replied primly before bursting into giggles.

The waiter came by with their entrees and both of them fell to eating, light conversation filtering between them. When dessert rolled around, Alex had started looking nervous again and his hand kept fluttering towards his jacket pocket when he though Eliza wasn't looking. Was this going to be the moment, Eliza wondered.

Alex inhaled deeply as he withdrew a paper from the inside pocket of his suit jacket, "Eliza... Betsey..." he began.

"Alex?" Eliza raised her brow.

Alex paused for a moment as he unfolded the document which now Eliza could see was several sheets of paper.

Her heart beat quickened, this had to be it. 

'Betsey, my dearest and most precious girl I have so much to say to you," Alex began. "My love, my light, first one if my dearest friends I have come to love you more than I can possibly say."

A smile spread across Eliza's face as Alex continued to read aloud.

"The hours I could spend extolling your virtues are endless, and while you would tell me this is unnecessary I will happily disagree with you. You should be told at least once a day of your kind heart, quick wit and overwhelming beauty, of your ability to light up a room just by entering it. Betsey, you make me so happy that I cannot even describe the full extent of my feelings. The Schuyler women are extraordinary, but by far you are the most so," Alex's hands shook slightly as he continued on. "My angel, my charmer, you may think me old fashioned for wooing you with words, but it is my best medium when it comes to expressing myself," he turned to the next page when Eliza reached out and took his hand in hers.

Eliza had no doubts in her mind as to what this was about now, and as much as she was enjoying this when she noticed that he appeared to have at least eight more pages... She was not sure she could cope with the suspense.

"My love shall always be strong and pure-"

"Alex," Eliza squeezed his hand gently and he stopped reading, "what's this all about?"

Alex was silent for a moment as he looked at the rest of his pages and back at Eliza and sighed, "Too much?"

Before Eliza had a chance to respond Alex got up from where he sat and walked over to stand beside her before getting down on one knee. This caught the attention of the other guests in the restaurant as it all went eerily quiet.

"Elizabeth... Eliza Schuyler," Alex reached into his other pocket and withdrew a ring box, "will you do me the greatest honor I can think of... Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will, you ridiculous man," Eliza laughed, reaching down to grab Alex's lapels and draw him up into a kiss.

She vaguely noticed the cheers from the other restaurant patrons, too focused on the man she loved to care.

When they broke apart Alex was beaming, "You have made me the happiest man alive."

Eliza smiled and pressed a small kiss to Alex's nose. "You didn't seem so surprised," he said.

Eliza glanced away, slightly embarrassed, "I may have already known you were planning to propose."

"What? How?" asked Alex.

"Herc may have called to ask me about wedding colors so that he could start planning bridesmaid dresses," responded Eliza.

Alex's surprise turned to frustration, "Damn it, Mulligan."

Eliza put her hands on his shoulders, "It's alright," she kissed his cheek, "nothing could have prepared me for that novel."

Alex sighed, "Will I ever get to read the whole thing?" he asked as he sat down.

"Hmm..." Eliza pondered, "perhaps at our 20th anniversary if we last that long," she teased.

"Game on Miss Schuyler," Alex grinned.

"Soon to be Mrs. Hamilton," Eliza added.

Alex looked slightly starstruck, "Eliza Hamilton. I like the sound of that."

"Me too," Eliza said with a smile.

\----------

December 14, 2010

 

Twenty years on the Hamilton's were still going strong and everyone was more that happy to be there celebrate their twenty years of marriage. A lot has changed during that time, between the addition of seven kids and moving to DC when Alex became Secretary of the Treasury there was a lot to look back on.

Philip was home from university for winter break, his right arm in a cast, although he had abandoned his sling, from the shooting a few weeks earlier. Angie had stuck by his side like glue all evening, and understandably so. AJ was trying to sneak off by himself but was accosted by James in the process.

Eliza was so happy all their friends could be here for this, even George and Martha had come as well, not everyone was lucky enough to have the President and First Lady come to their wedding anniversary after all. 

John was sitting between George and Martha attempting to follow the conversation while William was in Lafayette's arms playing with his curls, Adrienne looking on with affection. Even little Lizzie was joining in on the fun, perched on Laurens' lap where he sat on the floor.

"To twenty more years," Angelica came up behind her with champagne flute in hand.

Eliza grinned, "and to at least twenty more."

The crowd was silenced by Alex getting up to speak.

"Twenty years ago," he began, "I married the most wonderful woman in the whole world. When I proposed to her, I made a promise. I promised that on out twentieth anniversary I would read something for her. Now," he continued, pulling several sheets of paper from his back pocket which were folded into thirds, "this isn't just anything. These are the words I wrote to convince Eliza that she should accept my proposal. Of course, she already knew about the proposal," Alex said, sending a small glare in Hercules's direction and receiving a sheepish grin in response, "and I never got to finish what I started. Until now."

There was a little bit of laughter before everyone settled and Alex cleared his throat, "My love shall always be strong and pure, and I assure you that lit will never be anything less. Betsey, never has someone had the effect on me the way you have. You have influenced me for the better in our time together and I hope you continue to do so for many more years to come. Betsey..." Alex paused.

"I do not think you understand just how much you have made me a better man over our years together. I was lost when we first got together, so focused inwardly that I had lost sight of the world around me. You helped bring the world into focus again." Alex went on, "You gave me direction, I once again had reason and you were my guidance," Alex went on, "and now nearly five years later here we are..." He stopped for a moment to laugh at that slightly.

"Nearly five years later," he repeated, shaking his head slightly, unable to imagine how his younger self would react to the knowledge that he and Eliza would end up with at least twenty five happy years together, "here we are and I am more in love with you than I have ever been."

He heard a stifled sound from Angie's direction who was now blushing with everyone's eyes on her. Philip was next to her laughing with his arms around her. "With every day these feelings grow, so it only makes sense for me to ant to spend the rest of my life with you," Alex smiled

"I can no longer live without you, my darling Betsey, and I sincerely hope that you feel the same."

 

"Which I suppose brings me to the real purpose of me telling you all this, because there is only one course of of action that I see us taking."

Alex tucked the papers away and got down on one knee, taking Eliza's hand in his.

"Twenty years ago today, you made my dream a reality," he said, "Would you do me the honor of renewing our vows, here in front of our friends and family?"

"Of course you crazy and ridiculous man," Eliza laughed as she mirrored the words she'd said all those years ago.

There were some cheers from their friends as Alex got to his feet and gave Eliza a quick kiss.

 

"Get on with it!"

 

Alex and Eliza turned to see Laurens grinning and looking very pleased with himself while holding Lizzie as the others laughed.

"You heard the man," Eliza smiled.

Alex had to take moment himself to stop laughing and compose himself before he began.

 

After all this time, he still knew the vows he'd written from memory. Of course he had them memorized, Eliza thought fondly, she wouldn't expect anything less from her wonderful husband.

"Eliza, today I promise you this. I promise to be there for you when you need me most, to laugh at your jokes, to be the one to comfort you when you are sad," Alex took her hand in his.

"I promise that you will be my first thought in the morning and my last before I go to sleep. I promise to cherish every day I spend with you." He continued.

Alex paused, obviously deviating from the original script when he continued, "And every day I spend with every single one of our wonderful children."

He cast his gaze around the room as he spotted all seven of them, "But most of all Eliza, I promise to keep worry from your mind and heart, you are never to feel alone or helpless."

"With all this in mind," Alex continued, "what do you say to another twenty years?" he asked. 

"I do," Eliza replied happily, "I do, I do, I do."

 

Alex put his arms out to embrace her as their friends and family clapped and cheered for them.

Eliza brushed a tear from her eye, "I guess it's my turn, although how I'm going to top that is beyond me."

There was laughter when she said this, "I've never had a way with words like you do," Eliza admitted, "Philip got all his writing talent from you."

"But," she continued, looping her arms around Alex's neck as he placed his hands on her waist, "I can say this. I love you, Alexander Hamilton, with all of my heart. These past twenty years have been more amazing than I ever could have imagined."

"Glad to hear it," Alex whispered in her ear before kissing his wife.

"Alright that's enough," Angelica then took the floor.

 

"Please and thank you," laughed Hercules, "If they kept going at it any longer I was going to spontaneously develop diabetes from all that sweetness."

"Twenty years and you still seem like newlyweds," Laurens teased, "an amazing feat."

"Only our Alex," Lafayette said, shaking his head affectionately.

Everyone continued to give their congratulations, George give him a hearty clap on the back  and muttering "Congrats son." Even Angie got to her feet and hugged her mother and father.

"Happy anniversary," Angie smiled taking a step back.

"Thank you sweetheart," Eliza brought her oldest daughter in for another hug.

"To Alexander and Eliza Hamilton," George's voice rung out over the crowd.

"To Alex and Eliza!" everyone replied loudly.


End file.
